Page 8 of The Silent Mountain Man

"You don't lock your door?"

"No need to, City Boy."

His elbow makes contact with my stomach this time.

Eddie looks around from the entryway. "I like your place."

"This is basically it."

I point at the open-plan kitchen, living, and dining area in front of us. There's not much to it, but I'm proud of it. I built it myself using reclaimed wood from my brother's timber yard.

Eddie's eyes go wide. "Oh my god, you have a fireplace."

"I do."

"Ilooovewatching a fire. It's one of my favorite things."

It's one of my favorite things, too.

But I don't say that. Instead, I take a step away from Eddie, feeling…unsettledfor some reason.

"Bathroom's that way." I tip my head to the small hallway that leads to the bathroom and my bedroom. "Go jump in the shower. I'll get you a towel and a set of clothes and leave them by the door."

"Yeah. Okay. Just gonna lock myself up in some strange mountain dude's bathroom."

I'm about to remind him he has a gun at his disposal when he lifts a finger, and his lips stretch out. "I’m teasing."

It takes every ounce of willpower I can muster not to grab his finger, pull him into me, and wipe that sexy smile off his lips with a kiss…but I don't.

"Go," I instruct.

He bounces down the hall, and my eyes absorb the hard muscles of his back and a round, pert ass that does little to quell the desire coursing through my veins.

I'm attracted to the guy. That much is obvious. But I can't,won't, do anything about it. Not when I'm trying to get him to trust me and make him feel comfortable after what he's been through.

I'll take care of my libido the way I always do. Alone.

The shower starts running, so I grab Eddie a towel and some clothes he can change into.

What a funny coincidence that, of all the names in the world, his happens to be Eddie.

My Eddie made me feel so many things.

Back then, I was capable of having emotions. And talking. Fuck, I was a chatterbox. You couldn't shut me up. And believe me, my two older brothers tried to.

I wasn't the jaded, damaged, silent emotionless ice block I've turned into. Life hadn't worn me down yet.

Not that growing up was easy, especially not with the kind of father we had, but it was always an adventure. I had so much energy. So much passion about everything. I was bursting with excitement about the future.

Our future.

And it all died when Eddie left.

I joined the military a few months later, and I grew the fuck up. I stopped being a boy, shut my mouth once and for all, and stepped out of my father's shadow.

I chose a different life. A proper life. One that didn't involve being on the run all the time, never staying in one place for too long, always checking over my shoulder and making sure no one ever got too close.

The army was just the thing I needed. It gave me the discipline and structure I'd been missing. I finally became a man I could be proud of.

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